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Hillclimb Gone Wrong!


Mitchfc

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Looking again at the footage of the first run, it seems to me that the safety of that course is on a par with GP circuits of the 1950s. Call me chicken if you wish, but I don't think I'd be going Hell-for-leather up there with all the trackside obstacles largely unguarded. It's reminiscent of some of the tracks in the 'Nine Days in Summer' footage of the 1967 F1 year viewed from Lotus's viewpoint.

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It is a good illustration of why a lot of (probably most of) the quicker Speed Series competitors won't do hill climbs and just stick to the sprints, which tend to be on tracks which are more forgiving and have greater margin for error. One exception being Harewood, up to a point.

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Wow that's sobering.  I remember chatting to you at Wiscombe, Mitch, at the beginning of the year and admiring your car.  I heard recently of your accident but had no idea of the extent of your injuries. Truly horrific.  Glad you're on the mend.  And as you and others have said, what a testament to the calm professionalism of the marshals, medics and fire crew.  Having watched the video I've just sat staring out the window in thoughtful silence for 15 minutes.

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Wow, that's shocking and hard to watch :down: So glad you survived, sobering indeed.

I noticed that you were able to shift into 3rd over the crest and on the slow-mo you can even see the tacho rev away as the wheelspin starts, I think

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One reason that we removed Olivers Mount, Scarborough, from the speed series calendar was that in one weekend we had 2 very serious crashes. One involved the fencing spearing a Westfield and just missing the driver and the other was a car going backwards off track and bursting into flames as a fence rail punctured the fuel tank. Quick drivers are not afraid of hills but the collateral damage to car and driver seems to be disproportionate to the risk taken. ( and just for the record I did hold the hill record for 3 years so I know what its like to drive it and blank out the dangers.)

I still do Harewood which is probably as safe as it can be with gravel traps and armco barriers etc

Pleased to see you are recovering from the crash 

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I didnt think that the event was well thought out , to be honest from looking at the video. MSA must investigate and reason why it happened and how to prevent injury again. You missed a steel farmers gate just before the impact and the wall and tree should have been protected with bails etc to allow them to absorb some of the impact. Seemed a bit poor with the knowledge of a car going light on the crest and potential injuries that could occur from this and not protecting the drivers. I know motorsport is dangerous, but I think this is beyond dangerous how it was potentially assessed before the event. 

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Wow. Really pleased you are ok. As it went in I didnt think it was going to be so bad but how wrong I was. Cage certainly helped alas I fear this is the worst case impact for a seven style kit car with very little distance to absorb and deform.

Certainly hats off to the marshalls, medics and rescue team

Hope you continue to improve.

Ash

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I watched this earlier today on another forum, it made me think!

Glad you will be ok, as others have said this could have been a lot worse.

Hats off to all concerned in extraction, marshals and hospital staff. 

Rich

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4 hours ago, Mitchfc said:

I believe you had an accident of your own that day.

I did, and although it made a bit of a mess of the front end and the chassis, it was nothing compared to yours. It did make me review my enthusiasm for hills though.  Like you, I've always preferred the  unique challenge, the character and ambience of hills but I might be shifting towards sprints from now on and being more selective about the hills.

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Wow :o

So glad to see you are well enough to be on here sharing the video and experience.

Very scary seeing how far out of the car your head/shoulders went :oops:

 

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Glad you are Ok definitely opened my eyes to the consequences of this sport we call fun.

Now i know we don't like the MSA changing the regulations but watching this would it be sensible to adopt the hand restraints the the 7 esque type cars have to use in circuit racing. just to try and save flailing limbs in the event of a big hit.

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Wow - that's utterly horrendous! Glad you are on the mend but genuine shivers down my spine watching this. Good luck with the recovery

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